Man Saves Bear Cub: Arizona Man Drives 80 Miles To Conservation Center
An Arizona man is being called a hero after he saved an injured bear cub that he found near an Arizona highway.
According to a report from KTAR, Christopher Morris spotted what he thought was a dead dog, while he was driving down the highway. However, he noticed the rounded ears and realized that it was a bear cub. That’s when the man turned his car around to move it away from the road. As he got closer, he noticed that the bear cub was still alive.
The man looked for the bear cub’s mother, but he had no luck. He then began calling places in the Payson, Arizona area, but none had room to take the cub. Morris then made the call to the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale, which is an hour and a half away from Payson. The center said they would take the bear cub, and the man transported it there in a wire crate. While the center is 90 minutes away, KTAR is reporting that it took Morris an hour to get to the location.
According to a report from CBS 5, the bear cub was taken in and underwent some x-rays. It was discovered that the four-month-old, 20-pound bear fractured his front left leg.
The bear is expected to recover. But, according to a post on its Facebook page, the center is not sure when or if they can release it back into the wild.
“We’ll have to wait and see how his recovery goes,” the post read.
The center also mentioned that it is possible that the bear may have “suffered some head trauma in addition to his fractured leg.”
“It is our hope that he can be released, but only time will tell,” the post read.
The conservation center also noted that the bear cub was “calling for his mama all day.”
Meanwhile, many have taken to social media to praise Morris for saving the bear cub.
“@WPTV: Arizona man drives 80 miles to save injured bear http://t.co/QVQ7Gefrol pic.twitter.com/U8CS0dfavR” ?? this! #goodpeopledoexist
— Meredith Westheimer (@mmwestheimer) August 26, 2014
Big round of applause for Christopher Morris@AP_Oddities: Man saves injured bear cub he found on the side of the road http://t.co/mSftHF3Uvn — Seth B. Tate (@sbt4bt) August 26, 2014
@AP_Oddities @RussContreras What a lovely human being. We should all aspire to such selfless actions!
— Anna Brown (@mediagirl) August 26, 2014
@csmonitor And that man gets my highly coveted Gold Star of the Day!
— Gretchen Anthony (@musicanimal62) August 26, 2014
[Images via Facebook]